World War Z: Isolation and Liberation
by Warork
Summary: A story done as an addition to Max Brook's "World War Z." This story explores the lives of the men and women trapped behind Zombie lines, waiting for rescue, death, or worse...I hope you'll enjoy!


**Chohaw National Park**

**Blue Ridge Mountains, Alabama**

**[For this interview, I am given a ride down an unpaved dirt road into the Chohaw mountain valley. Tall, tree covered ridges line either side of it as far as the eye can see. The mountains reach up to the blue sky before slowly sloping into the bowl that is the valley. As I enter the mouth of the valley, which is protected by a wall of logs, a thick gate and armed guards, I notice a large sign in front of a great steel statue. The sign says 'Jameson National Memorial' with small subtitles under the larger heading that I cannot read. The statue takes the image of two men shaking hands face to face. As the ride continues, the vehicle crosses a large bridge connecting one side of the river that flows under it and through the valley to the other. The entrance to the bridge is also walled, gated, and guarded. Several minutes of driving past wooded glens, and all manners of lakes and ponds, I arrive at my destination. **

**Camp Chohaw is surrounded by a fifteen foot stone wall. Its appearance reminds me of the pictures of castles and forts I'd seen in children's books. Several of the segments are damaged, some in disrepair, a few of the parapets are completely derelict but the wall still stands proudly. A wide and shallow trench has been dug around the wall, the length of it has been burnt and impacted many times. Again, armed guards let us pass the huge gates and the vehicle pulls through. All around the cleared encampment are wood and stone shelters, most have chimneys, some are covered in sod. There are also many tents and other vehicles parked in the area. Almost every type of tent conceivable covers the area for acres around. Many wells have been dug, there is a small church and a clinic visible. Simply said, Camp Chohaw is a completely self contained community. I get to my destination, a large pre war building, two stories high with a radio antenna sticking out of the top and a satellite dish propped next to it. The building has yet another wall around it, this time reinforced concrete and yet another gate, this time steel. The gate opens, and a middle aged man walks into view in a duster and near comical looking cowboy hat. From what I'd been told, he had to be Ranger Drew Jameson, the leader of the camp. Over his shoulder is a slung repeating rifle and at his hip is holstered a revolver of some sort. He greets me with a friendly smile that is somewhat distorted by a scar in his right cheek. We walk to the front porch of the building and sit in two rocking chairs. He offers me a cigar and I politely refuse, he lights his homemade smoke and blows a small cloud of grey smoke.]**

**So, you are this Ranger Jameson I've heard so much about?**

You've probably heard a lot of stories about the ranger around here. **[He chuckles] **Nah, what you're hearing is the stories of my father.

**Your father?**

Ran this place until he died a year ago, the old buzzard. He was the park ranger for years, as far as I can remember. It seems word of this little haven's gotten around, maybe a little too much.

**What do you mean by that?**

You wouldn't believe the stories I've heard, you sound like you've heard of a few of em yourself. **[He takes on a mockingly awestruck tone] **The famous 'Ranger Jameson' the great Zack hunter, the last of the lawmen in the south. **[He chuckles again] **He never liked those stories to his dying day, always thought it brought him too much unwanted attention. He was a quiet man, he didn't like people a whole lot, that's why he worked out here. **[He pauses, another puff of smoke escapes his lips] ** But those stories aren't why your here are they?

**You're right, so tell me, Mr. Jameson-**

Please, call me Drew.

**Okay, Drew. How did it start?**

You're gonna have to be a little bit more specific. When did what start?

**The war, for you, I mean.**

**[He sighs] **That was, what, ten years ago? Man, it seems like so much longer than that, it was a lifetime ago for me. It started when I was eighteen, last year of high school, was planning on going to work on cars when I graduated. **[He laughs] **Lot of good that would have done me now. Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, well my parents had just gone through a divorce three years before. I lived with my mother in the city and my dad lived out here. I used to come see him sometimes.

**You lived in the city?**

Not much of a city, Gadsden Alabama, I'd been told by my history teachers that the city was once a great river port for the state. Yeah, well, not so much then and even less now. Its ruin stands about an hour by car from where we are now. Anyway, we'd heard about the 'African rabies' as they called it then but it was just a far off thing. Something you see on the news you know? Nobody took it seriously, we all moved on after a few weeks like the rest of the nation. Then, months later the reports from up north came in, the walking dead, stuff out of a bad movie, coming to eat us. I hardly believed it until it was all over the news. I'll give Zack one thing, he spreads fast. Nobody got too worried though, the military was going to handle it, they sent a whole bunch of soldiers up to Yonkers and...well, you know the rest.

**So what did you do?**

Me? I didn't do anything. All I had to support me was my mom, we didn't have any other family so we stayed put, hoping that the pandemic would either be dealt with by the time it got down here or fizzle out before it reached the south. **[He sighs and shakes his head.] ** Man how stupid was everyone back then? We let what happened happen by not doing anything. I wonder sometimes...**[He waves his hand dismissively] **But back to the point. I was on my way to school in my baby, a deep blue sixty nine Mustang with a hemi and back spoilers. Everything on that car was custom, I'd put all my money and time into perfecting it, and she was a beauty. There I was, driving along the road to school and some moron walks straight out into the road and I hit him full on. I got out to see if he was alright, obviously he wasn't. In fact, as I looked on and wondered if I'd just committed negligent manslaughter the guy was dragging his limp legs across the ground, trying to get me. He was moaning horribly and for a second I thought it was from the pain...until he barred his teeth. I'd had enough at that point so I jumped back into my car, started her up, and flew down the road toward the school.

**Despite that, you still headed for the school?**

I was scared and confused, I had no idea what to do, I could barely believe what had happened to me, so yes, I headed for the school, in the stupid hope that if I ignored what had happened life would continue as normal. I drove up into the parking lot and saw that all seemed normal. Relieved, I went to class and tried to forget what I'd seen.

**It didn't just go away, did it though?**

Hell no! Second period came around and the principal came over the PA: lockdown for the whole campus. Something was up I knew, but I hid like the others, hoping it would go away. Soon we heard screams and moans, they were followed by gunshots from what we assumed to be the resource officers and more screams from outside the room. People began to panic, we just couldn't sit there any more. We all stampeded for the door, I was the first one out and I turned down the hall to get out of the building...**[He pauses] **Bad idea, in the middle of the hallway was one of em, over the carcass of some kid, its face was covered in guts and blood. It was more than I could take, I ran in the other direction and didn't stop for any scream or shot, all the way to my car.

**Where did you go?**

I lit out as fast as I could and headed straight for my house. I passed a few Zacks on my way but kept going. My radio was on the entire time, it was playing Iron Maiden's "Run to the Hills" **[He chuckles] ** Hey, its what I was doing at the time so why not? I raced home, tried to get my mom on my cell phone and cursed everything when I couldn't get a call through. Guess Zack had already taken the towers or everyone else was trying to get a message through that the lines were jammed. I pulled into my neighborhood like the car was on fire and when I got home I threw everything useful I could find unto the biggest bag I could find.

**What kind of things?**

Food; cans of it, bottled water, medications, tools, anything useful I could find. I packed my old oak bat too.

**For someone who was in denial about practically everything that had happened so far, that was pretty prudent of you.**

I don't know what came over me. I was so fueled by adrenaline and fear that my mind was crystal clear. Ever get that from nearly being killed? I hadn't even noticed I'd pissed my pants yet. I threw everything I had gathered into the back of my car. In my rush I almost forgot Zoey.

**Who?**

My mom's Ratterrier. She was a pretty little dog, quiet, loveable, alright for such a small thing. I whistled for her and she hopped in my car, she'd never been in it before and she was shaking like a leaf, whimpering. She could smell 'em getting closer, in fact a few of 'em were on the prowl in the neighborhood and one saw me, he came right at me while I was getting ready to go.

**What happened?**

I'm still here aren't I?

**I suppose...**

I drove like a hellion out of there and got on the highway. I had no destination in mind initially; I tried vainly to get my mom on my cell phone. I got the radio onto the news and listened to the reports. Whatever the hell was going on, it wasn't good and it was starting to sweep the state.

**What did you do?**

I couldn't go into the city where my mom worked. It was the hardest decision I've ever made in my life but...**[His voice wavers]** To this day I don't know what happened to her...I drove away from the city into the country. I knew my uncle had a hunting lodge not an hour from the outskirts of the city, out in the woods near the National park where my dad worked. My uncle Eric was a die hard outdoorsman, hunter, survivalist. If there was anybody in a hundred mile radius who'd be equipped for this, it'd be him.

**What do you mean "Equipped?"**

He'd bought the land primarily because it contained an underground bunker made by someone in the Cold war. It was still in working shape and after he bought the land, my uncle made it his "Bug out hole" A place where he and maybe family could go in case of a crisis.

**He really expected what was about to happen?**

No, but he had always had a strong belief in being prepared. After he got the land he had a lodge built on it and ran a hunting ground, he was like my father, never liked people all that much. Anyway, I drove out there, I must have passed at least a hundred Zacks, some in groups, some chasing people. I remember the chaos, the panic, people were running, gunshots, fire, it's all a blur now. A really nasty blur, know what I mean?

**I think so. You made it onto the highway?**

Yeah, and by that point I was beyond obeying traffic laws. I'm pretty sure my foot never left the gas pedal the entire time I was driving. All around me cars were stopped and some had crashed into each other, it was pure carnage, already some of them were heading for the stopped cars, yanking people out and eating them alive, it was horrible, they were everywhere, not in number per say, yet, but at that point you didn't have to look far to see one. I came to a huge traffic block in the middle of the highway and cursed like a sailor. There were people everywhere, some with families, some with personal or stolen possessions, some with guns, all looking for a way out like animals backed into a corner.

**So how did you get around them?**

I took the car off-road. I blared the horn as much as I could and spun dirt like I was driving the General Lee in some sort of race.

**The what?**

Ever see The Dukes of Hazard?

**No.**

**[He laughs] **Man, I must be older than I thought. It doesn't matter though; just know that I made it into the country and things started to slow down. Well, not me, I was going a hundred and twenty the entire time, but eventually after the traffic incident I was the only one around on the highway and I swear to you I made the run from my house to that lodge in less than thirty minutes. I skidded to a stop right in front of the lodge and ran for the front door.

**Did you find him?**

Yeah, he was there, although, I barged into the lodge all jacked up on an adrenaline high, shouting for him and couldn't find him in the lodge. I started to panic, still convinced those things were right behind me. Turns out Eric was behind the lodge at the entrance of the bunker, loading the supplies from the bunker into his trailer.

**He wasn't planning on staying down there? Seems like that would be a good place to hide.**

I know, that's what I asked, he said there had been an accident with one of the generators and that the bunker wasn't secure anymore. I helped him move all his equipment and such into his truck. Lots of essentials like I said earlier, plus the icing on the cake. He had a huge and full gun locker and enough ammunition to fuel a small army.

**Sounds like you were prepared.**

Yeah, looking back I suppose we were set, although, as you should know by now, beans and bullets do not a survival make. We still needed a new place to go, and we had absolutely no goddamn clue what we were up against.

**So I guess you eventually figured out where you were going?**

We didn't have to think too long, the only other person we new was my dad, who ran the ranger station. **[He points his thumb behind him to indicate the large building] **When we got to the entrance of the valley he was already there, comin' out to find my uncle at his place. We talked, it was a very short conversation, and we decided we'd better wait out whatever the hell was going on at the Ranger station.

**What made you decide that?**

**[He points at the walls surrounding the station and the gate.] **It was the safest spot we had access to. We hunkered down and made it as secure as we could, turned on the radio, and waited. I was restless, I wanted to find my mother. I hadn't heard from her since the day before. But my father...

**Didn't want her around?**

No, no, nothing like that, he loved her as much as I did. But he accepted the fact that we couldn't risk going into the city to look for her. I was resentful of him for a long time and we had a good many fights, some that got loud. But in the end, I was glad I didn't go looking for her.

**Why not?**

The Great Panic had started in earnest; it was the end of society as we knew it and possibly the end of the world as far as we were concerned at the time. We were on self imposed exile as of that day ten years ago and I haven't left the valley since. It's funny to think about that old man, you could always tell when he was angry by the way he looked at you with his eye.

**Eye? As in one?**

**[He laughs] **This was his hat, his guns, and his coat, and he had to wear an eyepatch as the result of a fight he had gotten into with some brute years back. My uncle had since named him "Rooster"

**[I look at him, my confusion apparent]**

Another movie you've never seen. After a few days, we realized we were completely alone, isolated, we didn't see any of Zack or any civilians for a week. That's when the first of them came.

**The zombies?**

No, civilians, people looking for shelter, like us, somewhere to hide. A few of them from the city, a family of four. They pulled up to the gate and the father got out and asked to stay with us. I was about to open the gate when my dad stopped me.

**Why?**

We'd been listening to radio chatter for a week then, we'd heard by then what it took to stop Zack **[He points to his head] ** and how to find out who was infected and who wasn't. Apparently animals can smell the stuff, and my Uncle's Bloodhound, Runt, was starting to look nervous. We knew something was up, we held the family at gunpoint and made them stay where they were while my uncle led Runt up towards the family.

**So I'm guessing you didn't let them stay?**

No, Runt went nuts so we told them they couldn't stay here. They weren't exactly happy about it but then again we had guns and they had kids. **[He finishes his cigar and tosses the stub into the grass] **This continued for the next few days, a group would come up, we'd sniff 'em, if they didn't check out, they couldn't come in.

**Any people you knew? **

Yeah, relatives, people from school, people from work, neighbors, friends, firefighters, doctors, policemen, clerks, businessmen, construction workers, they weren't all strangers.

**Wouldn't letting more people in be a risk? **

We weren't inhuman, this is the south, when and honest man down on his life comes and asks for your help, you help 'em. Granted, we were concerned at first about supplies. A lot of people brought their own, several brought guns, we all knew by that point that if we were going to make it we would have to band together. We would have to be united and cooperate. All of it was headed by my dad and my uncle.

**Nobody objected?**

No, not until later anyway, it was my dad's ranger station, and my uncle was the foremost expert on our survival, so no, nobody questioned it initially. So was born Camp Chohaw.

**What was daily life like?**

Dull, what wasn't spent on watch, monitoring supplies, or ensuring the peace was spent idly, we had nothing to do but work and wait. It became nerve wracking; we were like animals in a cage. Almost all radio chatter ceased, it was dead silent for days on end. In the distance every day, smoke could be seen billowing up into the sky from the fires of the cities around us. It was a dark time, peaceful, but you know what they say about the calm before the storm? We taught everyone how to use and maintain a weapon, not even all guns. Blades, blunts, anything that could be used as a weapon to kill Zack was used. Guards patrolled the parapets and watched for any signs of movement, scouts were sent into the woods to give us an early warning. Early on, we moved the tree houses that my uncle used on the hunting grounds and set them up in trees around here, a perfect way to keep an eye on the area and keep the scout teams safe at the same time.

**You put sentries around the entire valley? That's a lot of ground to cover.**

No, you see this area outside the gate? All the camp you see all the way to the river wasn't there until years later. This entire area besides the station was surrounded by trees initially.

**What happened to the trees?**

D'you see the log cabins, the gate at the end of the river, and the gate at the park entrance?

**[The reason becomes apparent to me and I nod.]**

**[He waves his hand dismissively] **That didn't happen until a good many years later, initially, it was these tents inside these walls and there were maybe a hundred of us. We ended up adding onto the station as well, all the side rooms you see here are add-ons, all the parapets and the patches in the walls, those are add-ons. This was our castle and we were under siege.

**Seems like a lot of work.**

What else did we have to do? We spent the days figuring how to make this an uncrackable nut for Zack. We had construction guys in the group supervise the effort. It was a lot of team work. Anyway, the group was there for about a month, the sky had darkened a lot, it was cloudy all the time, it rained little, the days got shorter, the weather got strange to say the least. They'll tell you that the reason for it was all of the fires that Zack caused but it was damn depressing. Then we had some new visitors.

**More civilians?**

Nope. This time it was a big mixed group of national guard, cops, and regular army. Some of them were visibly wounded but it was impossible to tell if they were bitten or not. They came in like chickens without heads, helter skelter, frantic, you know. They demanded to come into the station but my dad said they have to be sniffed first. Tempers rose, voices were raised, hell, it almost came to shooting. Then we found out why they had been running so fast to get here...**[He pauses]** We finally got everyone to stop shouting and pointing guns at people to listen for a second. It was there, the moaning, the god awful moaning. The smell was there too, that deathly smell that Zack carries around with him.

**What did you do?**

My dad let the group in, that almost caused another fight but he shouted the nay-sayers down. We let em in and got a quick story out of em about how they had been holding up in some hole in the city and had run out of supplies so had come here. They swore up and down they didn't have any infected with them and that they weren't here to take over. My dad wanted to believe him but they had to prove it.

**How?**

By fighting along side us. Come here and let me show you something. **[He stands up and walks to the front gate of the station, it is a huge sturdy steel gate that opens outward and has multiple removable locks and braces. He opens it and shows me to the shallow, burnt out trenches dug sloping downward from the wall.] **They came out of the woods, hundreds of 'em, they'd all followed that group and attracted other Zacks from the area, soon we had an entire horde on top of us, several hundred strong, probably almost a thousand, maybe more. We'd dug these trenches to make it harder for them to get at the walls, a lot of 'em got trampled when they fell into these. We took out as many as we could with precision fire, my uncle informed everyone to not waste ammo, to go for the head. They got to the walls and we barred the gate. What happened next were some of the worst days of my life. They beat on the walls, they screamed, they made life unbearable, we had to be on constant watch along the wall. We continued to pour fire on their heads but it was slow work. It took a lot of ammo and a lot of time, but we did it.

**There must have been a lot of corpses.**

Aw hell, you friggin' know it. The stench was horrible; we needed a plan to dispose of the bodies. Finally, we just dumped fuel on the bodies around walls and lit it on fire. We had to wear masks for another day because of the smoke. When it had cleared we were still here and the walls had held. By that time, it was obvious that the group we had let in right before they came was clean, although just to be sure, we gave 'em a once over anyway. Life went back to normal, well, as normal as it could be.

**Wasn't it a pretty big waste to use all that fuel, and wasn't it dangerous to set fire to the bodies?**

Oh yeah. We learned with everything you do there's some risk, but the key is to weigh those risk and somehow come out on top. We had to burn the bodies or it would have been a disease hazard. We had to use the fuel because there was no other way to set the cadavers on fire. We made do. Life went on.

**That wasn't the only zombie attack was it?**

No, not by a long shot, we had a few less serious ones over the next few months. We got accustomed to figuring out when a group of them were about to attack.

**How could you tell?**

The animals would disappear a day or so before they got here. The birds were gone, the deer and the turkey and the boars vanished, even the friggin' ants went underground. Like I said, they knew. Whenever a group got nearer, the dogs and whatever other animals were in the camp started freaking out. Then we'd know, my dad would call us all to a meeting and we'd get ready for a siege. It'd be over in a day or two and we'd burn the bodies, like clockwork every time the animals disappeared, that would be our signal.

**It must have gotten hard eventually, the supplies couldn't have held out forever.**

You're right, we foraged a lot, and hunter teams would bring back food. We sent just a few scout teams on long range runs into the city to gather supplies, things we couldn't make ourselves but needed to survive: fuel, medicine, and other such things. I was on a few of those.

**Care to talk about any of those trips?**

**[He pauses for a moment] **I'd rather not. We lost good people on those, it was the most dangerous thing we could have done but we did it to survive, that's all I'm gonna say.

**Alright, what about the winter, the first one came soon afterwards, correct?**

Yep, that winter was the hardest winter any of us had ever faced. We ran out of food and medicine. We didn't have good enough clothes. A lot of things went wrong **[He becomes solemn] **A lot of the weaker ones in our group didn't make it. There was one good thing about the winter though. Zack froze solid. By that time all those fires that had blotted out the sun had caused the winter to be the coldest anyone in the state had seen since the British sailed over here. It snowed hard for days on end, Zack got stuck in the blizzards and in winter, we generally didn't have to worry about them all that much. But when we thawed, so did Zack.

**I noticed a lot of lights in the houses around here, how did you get running electricity?**

Wind power, water power. **[He points to a few large windmills in the distance I had yet to see around the camp]** After a few years we became so popular that the people in the group started making their homes outside the walls and it just kept going, the more people that came, the more land was used for living, the trees got cut down, we extended to the river.

**How did you use the river?**

Well, initially we used it just to have drinking water and to use for washing...

**Initially?**

You'd probably understand it better if I showed you... **[He procures an ATV and we head in the direction of the river. While on the way, we again pass the stone wall and I ask about it.]**

That is a rather long story actually.

**I've got time.**

Okay then, the story goes like this: not long after we starting extending the settled land of the community out towards the river, word came over the radio from someone somewhere that a huge horde was making its way through Gadsden from the north. We honestly didn't really take much notice, Gadsden was an hour by car from here and Zack had no reason to come out here to the country. A few days later though, and it was a different story. It was night; we didn't have scouts to alert us of their coming.

**Why not?**

It was near winter, we didn't keep scouts out because Zack froze then and we didn't feel like it was worth it to send scouts out to freeze their balls off for no reason.

**What about the animals?**

We had been having an especially bad winter that year, there were almost no animals around at that time so we didn't even notice... **[He sighs sadly] **It was the making for a perfect storm. That gate up there at the mouth of the valley, that didn't exist until afterwards, neither did this one here, they were both built, along with the one at the river crossing, to prevent what happened that night from happening again...

**And what did happen?**

**[He pauses, trying to find words.] **It was like the Panic all over again, they came out of the woods in the dark, we didn't expect them, and people got ripped to shreds before the alarm was sounded. My dad raised hell; him and my uncle got all of our gunmen out of their beds and started making an unholy racket. We had a siren system mounted on the ranger station that sounded like an air raid siren, whenever it sounded; the general populace was to drop whatever it was doing and run for the ranger station's walls. It was our emergency plan at the time. By the time we had mobilized, Zack was all over the crossing at the river. The civilians were running but they were being chased steadily by Zack.

**So what did your dad do?**

He stopped them. Him and us, he led us right into Zack and we held a line like you see in those civil war documentaries. We held a line formation like the military uses to take out Zack now. It was dark but my dad finally got some floodlights on the area where the zeds were crossing. We held that river shore for three hours, we lost men, they almost broke the line several times, a few times it got to hand to hand...**[His voice wavers with emotion]** We saw our friends get eaten in front of us. It was the most horrible thing I've ever seen in my life and to this day those three hours are still a blur...We lost nearly a hundred good people that night alone. A lot of 'em I knew personally, the bitten ones, well, they either took their own lives or we took them for them.

**You killed a good many number of Zombies that night?**

Plenty.

**How many people did you have to put down?**

**[He is silent for a moment, a look of anger passes across his face. He finally answers through clenched teeth] **I never counted...

**And that's why this wall was built?**

Yes, its never been tested in a siege, but after the "Battle of the river", that's what they called it, we built this piece of work. Nearly a thousand people all told worked to make it. The wall stretches from one side of the valley to the other. There are three other gates on the wall like this one. We called it the "Antonine Wall", after the one the Romans built to keep the Scottish hordes from the rest of Britain.

**It's amazing that all of you could work so well together in a time of such crisis, there were never any power battles?**

Oh no, there were plenty of those **[He chuckles] **I remember starting a few of the first ones myself.

**How were they resolved?**

How do animals resolve their differences in the wild? They fight and whoever comes out on top is dominant.

**Is that really how your father settled differences?**

No, his decrees were always in the interest of the community, if they had a problem with it, they were welcome to leave. A few did actually, but not many. No, he always said if someone thought that they could do better than him that they could take over.

**Just like that?**

Well, not really, they had to prove they could whoop my dad, of course none could and very few tried.

**And how did those confrontations pan out?**

**[He laughs] **Let's just say they didn't try it again...

**[We both get back on the ATV and he takes me to the river, we cross back over it and then take a trail parallel to the winding river, in the distance is on of the mountains that surround the valley and near the foot of that mountain we come upon a large building at the river shore with a huge wheel attached to it which churned the water, it seems old in construction but it could not have been there before the Great Panic, I realize that it was built with 19th century design in mind]**

This is the water mill. About six months after we extended the grounds of the camp and built the big wall, we were contacted through radio by the military. We had heard that the Government and pretty much the entire country had taken refuge in the mountains like we had, and that the last third of the country was now the US' safe zone. The military was in the business of helping out any major survivor camp and at that time we qualified.

**Why didn't you qualify when you started?**

Probably because we didn't have enough people. By the time they contacted us, our population had exploded, we'd started covering more and more of the valley as far as the eye could see. I think there were somewhere around twenty five hundred, maybe three thousand people living here at the time.

**How about now?**

Last time I checked, around six thousand.

**So the military started sending you supplies?**

Yeah, we didn't completely rely on them for survival but it definitely helped. I think that marked the time when we started thriving here instead of just surviving. By that time we had enough people to start rebuilding society right here. Farms went up, so did schools, we've got medical clinics and market stores, churches and, hell, even a movie theater once we got that old projector running.

**That's quite impressive.**

Like I said, we had help from the military, it became easier, people became happier, somehow, word got out and we starting getting groups from all over taking shelter here. People from all across the south ended up here. Ask around and I guarantee you'll find people from every state in the eastern union. The military gave us the turbines we needed to make this a reality, when we started getting electricity, everything else took off.

**What about more physical aid?**

Well, they didn't land any troops here if that's what you're wondering, they did however drop things like ammo and other hardware we couldn't make here, that was a godsend, it allowed us to train and equip our own official militia, ready to beat Zack back within a minute's notice.

**Well, it's still impressive to know that this group fared so well.**

We started out as just a few survivors, with one hope and one goal: live until dawn the next day, one step after the other, we turned this into the haven it is now. After a few years it got better, we lived and let live...well except for Zack, obviously...

**I noticed the memorial at the end of the valley but I didn't get a good look at it on the way in.**

Oh, you wanna see that old thing? Sure, why not? Always been a fan of history.

**[We ride up to the very mouth of the valley, I notice all the guard on duty there salute Ranger Jameson as we walk past. They seem not to be doing it out of requirement, but out of respect. We leave the gates and stand in front of the memorial. Jameson sits on a bench while I take a closer look at it. As said before, the memorial consists of a cast iron statue of two men shaking hands, one has the undeniable appearance of Jameson in both looks and attire, the other is obviously an Army officer in full combat gear. They are smiling and look as though they are old friends greeting each other. Next to the statue are two flag poles, on one hangs the American flag, on the other is the age old coiled snake on a yellow field with the words "Don't tread on me" displayed under it. In front of the statue is a large slab of marble, as I am reading the inscription on it, Jameson recites it aloud from memory.]**

Jameson National Memorial: This memorial is dedicated to the comradery and brotherhood shared by the people of Chohaw valley and the forces of the United States military. At this site on April 12th, 2020, the forces of the United States were welcomed with open arms as saviors to the people of Camp Chohaw, who bravely lived and died in defense of courage, gallantry, and the American way of life. Below are the names of those valiant souls who died in order to preserve this camp...

**The people from the battle at the river?**

And anyone else who died along they way, they're all heroes in their own right.

**That must have been one of the greatest moments in your life, being liberated from all those years of endangerment.**

Hate to break it to you but those days are far from over. But you are right, that was a great day, one of the greatest. It almost wasn't though...

**Why not?**

Well, we had heard a few years before when the President made that speech, it was like a scene out a history book; every ear was glued to the radios as his message was broadcasted all over the camp. When he announced that the army was going on the offensive it was like the Crimson Tide had just won the SEC, all the rooms in every building all over the camp exploded with cheering and celebrating. When that was over, the inevitable question came up. What would we do when they got here?

**It wasn't obvious?**

Not at first, there were a few with different theories. Some of the more independent ones in the camp wanted the military to stay out. They wanted us to be our own sovereign nation, our own kingdom, without interference.

**How did that go over with your dad?**

It was clear to him from the first minute, we were still in America, we were still loyal Americans, and we would welcome the army like the saviors they were. Everyone who thought different could lump it.

**How did that go over the community?**

Rather well actually, turns out ninety nine percent of the others felt the same way, the other one percent sucked it up, argued and were forced to suck it up, or left, or some combination of those.

**So that was the end of it?**

Far from it, we kept on living, on watch, on our toes; listening to how the progression of the advance was going, praying for the soldiers, praying for the President. We knew it wouldn't be long until they showed up on our door.

**That must have been a comforting thought.**

At first, yes, but, as time wore on, rumors started to work into the stories we were hearing. Rumors about brutality, rumors about genocide, rumors that the soldiers that were coming were not liberators, they were invaders.

**Those are some wild stories.**

Oh yeah, My dad thought so, so did most of the others, but with every story came another thing to answer for, by the time they were nearly here, marching across the Mississippi, a lot of us were scared of what might happen.

**And what was that?**

We had no idea, worst case scenario: total and complete genocide, firebombing, whatever. Now of course, those were the rumors on the radio but the more rational ones asked the real questions. Why would the military send us aid if they were going to kill us all? A lot of things just didn't add up with those rumors, that's why most didn't believe them. Anyway, the day eventually came; Army Group South cleared Gadsden on April 13th, 2020. We stayed awake in our beds for three nights listening to the commotion, watching the smoke from the fires. The chatter on the radio lit up. Apparently a whole lot of survivor pockets didn't want Uncle Sam being their protector any more. The result: The military rolled out the big guns. We watched the horizon and saw the explosions of artillery and tank shells, the rockets and all other sorts of munitions.

**I'll bet that scared a lot of you.**

You bet, it scared the hell out of near all of us, my dad assured the community though, if we didn't act hostile, they would be the saviors we knew they'd be.

**And people accepted this?**

My dad had taken those three thousand people through seven years of hardship and uncertainty. They were prepared to trust him.

**Even with all the chips on the table?**

Especially with all the chips on the table.

**But that's not what happened was it?**

**[He smiles] **You oughta know. Hell, ask anybody in Alabama what today is and they'll tell you. The third anniversary of Liberation Day. Its another Southern tradition now...

**Tell me, a lot of people celebrate it now, but how was it on that day?**

Extreme uneasiness is one way to describe it. We knew they were coming, we knew what day and generally what time they would be pulling up to the gates of the valley. My dad made sure everything was ready for the advance units.

**What do you mean?**

He had the militia, for the first time since its creation, lined up for presentation at the gates without arms, in fact, nobody had any firearms or weapons on them at the time when the scouts first spotted the dust clouds of the tanks coming down the road. That is, except for the color guard.

**There was a color guard?**

Specifically me and my uncle. My dad had Ol' Glory marched in between files of the militia out the gate as the army showed up. **[He points to the two flags on the poles] **They put 'em up there for everyone to see. He led the detail and stood at the very front of it all, just watching the army's armored vehicles as they came to a halt in front of this gate here. If the rumors were true, he would be the first one to die, he wanted it that way.

**But he didn't die, did he?**

Man, you sure like to state the obvious. No, I gotta say it was a tense moment, everyone in the valley had come to see it, if you can just imagine, for a few moments we just stared out at the group of tanks and men, all had combat gear on, all had guns out ready to use in a heartbeat. Looking back, both sides didn't know what to expect. The army had just gotten done with a battle in Gadsden with rebels, we had heard the rumors about the army, both groups knew what was supposed to happen, we just didn't know if that was going to happen or not. Finally, that moment passed without any hostility and a Humvee pulled up out of the formation. Three armed men stepped out, one with a megaphone. "Will the leader of this camp please step forward and be noticed for negotiation."

**They couldn't tell it was your father?**

I'm sure they were following protocol or something, they wanted to be sure, but I could tell, I could see it in the soldier's eyes, they weren't thinking about wasting all of us, they were surprised. They'd been expecting more of their own countrymen to turn their back on them and instead they found an open armed welcome, it must have been a little confusing. I'm sure there were a few that might have thought it was a trick. Anyway, my dad walked up, straight up, to that Humvee, Me and my uncle handed the flags to the men next to us and joined him. We were family, we were in this together. One of the three men from the Humvee walked straight up to my dad and they just kind of looked at each other for a second. The soldier was actually an officer; Colonel Johnathan Rodrick to be exact, he was about as old as my dad. This look crossed his face as he looked my dad in the eye, it was respect, acknowledgement. He stuck his hand out and my dad took it.

**[I look up at the statue which immortalizes the moment. I try to imagine that moment, that one moment where all the fears were washed away and replaced with joy.]**

I'll never forget what they said to each other, the Colonel tried to introduce himself and my dad shook his head. "I know who you are and it's about goddamned time you showed up." He said. The Colonel laughed a good bit at that. That was when we finally realized it was time to throw a party.

**A party?**

Oh hell yeah, the Colonel had the formation file through the gate and down the valley. Have you ever seen those videos of the G.I.s coming back home after World War II?

**Yes.**

It was like that, the soldiers marched down the road and everyone cheered them on. They were our liberators, our saviors, whether we wanted to admit or not. Their coming heralded the end of suffering and hardship for us, the end of uncertainty and the beginning of hope. The markets wheeled out free food for the soldiers, the taps started handing out free beer, everyone wanted to shake the hand of someone in uniform and give him a hug. The group sang the Star Spangled Banner and chanted "USA" over and over. The soldiers were elated. I don't think they'd had such a big welcome in their life. Tons of pictures and videos were taken. A few of us got raucous with some of the soldiers and I'm pretty sure that's the only time in my life I've ever gotten drunk. My dad made it official to the gathered crowd at the front door of the ranger station. He thanked the Colonel for freeing us and announced that everyone was again a citizen of the United States. The celebrations went on for three days. It was the happiest time of my life to know I wouldn't have to survive any more. That I could just live like I had seven years before.

**What was the aftermath like?**

After everything calmed down and the army group left, life went back to normal, we had much fewer Zack alarms. Now I think we only get one or two of the buggers every month or so. Life went on, people kept coming into the camp and now almost six thousand people live here in the second most populous camp in Alabama.

**You must be proud of all that you accomplished.**

My father was the hero, he was the leader and the glue that held the community together, he worked along side us, suffered along side us, and celebrated along side us. He was never a people person, but when the need came he was a leader of men.

**I guess you're going to have trouble filling his shoes.**

I'm going to do my best to lead these people, just like he did, but my dad was made of sterner stuff than I was. **[He pauses and looks up to the statue] **I wear the same uniform and use the same tools of the trade as my father, but I'm just a lesser son of greater sires...

**[Camp Chohaw continues to stand this day as a very popular center of community in Alabama. Statisticians predict that if the population keeps growing at the rate it is doing now then in two years its population will double. Patrick Jameson, the Ranger of Chohaw National Park and leader of Camp Chohaw, died on April 12th 2022 at the age of 70. He was awarded the Order of the Valiant Heart, an award made by the President to acknowledge all of those civilians who showed exemplary honor, sacrifice, and gallantry in the Great War.]**

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><p><strong>Author's Note: I do not own World War Z or any of Max Brook's works, everything referred to here is the property of its respective owner.<br>**


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